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We're going through perimenopause here at the NPR science desk. Well not all of us. But some of us are getting really sweaty during the day…and struggling with sleep at night. Our metabolism is slowing, we can't hold our liquor anymore, we're laughing and crying, maybe at the same time.
But there's light at the end of the tunnel, says menopause specialist Dr. Heather Bartos. "The hormonal hell so many women go through during perimenopause is like being in a raft riding down white-water rapids. But after menopause, you've made your way down the canyon and you get to the lake, where it's placid and beautiful,” says Bartos, adding that, for some women, post-menopause can be a freeing time to reassess. Sign me up.
That menopause is all doom and gloom is one of the myths about women's health debunked by doctors in THE NEW RULES OF WOMEN'S HEALTH: Your Guide to Thriving at Every Age. Author Meghan Rabbitt wrote about some of these myths for our Living Better series.
Here are a couple of other myths to consider as you head into the new year:
⚪⚪ Myth: All you need to prevent breast cancer is an annual mammogram.
Mammograms are important, but women at higher than normal risk may need additional screenings, says Dr. Lisa Larkin, an internal medicine physician specializing in women's health. The American Cancer Society and other organizations recommend women with a 20% or more lifetime risk of breast cancer have both an annual mammogram and breast MRI, scheduled six months apart.
Larkin recommends using one of the free, evidence-based risk-assessment tools available online, such as the Tyrer-Cuzick Model or the Gail Model. Bring the results to your next check up to start the conversation about breast cancer screening.
🏋️ Myth: Strength training trumps cardio, especially in midlife.
Straight training is a great thing. (If we didn’t think so, we wouldn’t be offering this special newsletter series to help you get started doing just that!) We mid-life ladies are especially into it, because with less estrogen, we need more resistance to help our muscles grow.
You still need aerobic training though, which is exercise that gets your heart rate up, says cardiologist Suzanne Steinbaum. Moderate intensity exercise — like walking at a pace where you can still have a conversation — can be a good choice because you can do it regularly without needing a lot of recovery. It’s important for lowering your risk of health disease.
Check out Rabbitt’s article for more women's health myths and realities.
Also: A guide to breast cancer screening |
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Richard Beaven for NPR, via Cory Lee, Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR and via Karen Lohr |
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Hotels are required by law to be accessible for guests who use wheelchairs. The requirement goes back to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has been law since 1990. But according to an NPR investigation, wheelchair users routinely run into problems, from inaccessible showers to airport shuttles that can’t accommodate a wheelchair, and broken pool lift chairs.
Hotels in recent years have added thicker and higher padded mattresses and mattress covers to create a sense of luxury. Multiple wheelchair users who completed an NPR survey said beds between 25 and 30 inches high pose a safety risk. "Climbing up into a bed feels luxurious when you're ambulatory," but it's "more like climbing a mountain when you're not,” says Emily Merkel of Charlottesville, Va., who uses a wheelchair because of an autoimmune illness. One man said he broke his collarbone trying to lift himself out of his wheelchair onto a tall bed.
“You feel that you're treated as a second-class citizen. It's not a nice feeling,” says Eileen Schoch, who uses a wheelchair after two strokes. When she travelled for her mother’s funeral, a room that was supposed to be accessible was anything but. She couldn’t use the toilet on her own because the grab bars were in the wrong place, and the shower door was too narrow for her wheelchair.
NPR found multiple reasons why wheelchair users run into accessibility problems at hotels. The industry is hesitant to spend money on better accommodations; hotel ownership is complex, creating confusion over who's responsible for making things accessible; regulations aren’t always enforced; and hotel staff turnover is high.
But advocates say there are some relatively easy fixes. For instance, hotels could change software to mark reservations for accessible rooms in their internal systems, so that guests wouldn't have to show up and find the room they reserved is not available. Hotel and travel websites could include and photos and videos of accessible rooms so that wheelchair users could make more informed decisions about where to stay.
Lorraine Woodward of Raleigh, N.C., has muscular dystrophy and owns an accessible beach house, which she rents to travelers. Noticing the demand, she started a company, Becoming rentABLE, to verify accessible short-term rentals across the country.
Read the full report on how hotels are failing wheelchair users, by NPR’s Joseph Shapiro.
ICYMI: Supreme Court ruling makes it easier to sue schools in disability cases |
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Doctors say 'The Pitt' reflects the gritty realities of medicine today
RFK Jr.'s new dietary guidelines go all in on meat and dairy
CDC slashes the number of vaccines recommended for kids
Listen: Science moves slowly. These ‘biohackers’ don't want to wait. |
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We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism online.
All the best,
Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors |
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Listen to your local NPR station. |
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